Yankees Should Stay Far Away From the Tim Tebow Circus

With plenty of actual baseball players in their farm system, there is no reason for the New York Yankees to waste their time with attention-seeking Tim Tebow.

According to various sources at ESPN, former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow will hold a workout in front of at least 20 major league teams on August 30th. That means there is a 67% chance the New York Yankees have some level of interest in the 29-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner, although there has been no word either way from anyone with the team.

Early reports as to Tebow’s skills have been mixed at best. He was an all-state baseball player in high school, but that was eleven years ago. The Los Angeles Dodgers liked what they saw from him enough to hold a private workout with him, but it’s pretty telling that they declined to sign him afterwards.

Tebow hasn’t even played in the NFL since 2012 with the New York Jets. This whole thing feels more like an attempt to get his name back in the headlines than an actual attempt to play professional baseball. One year from now, Tebow seems much more likely to be starring on his own reality show than playing in the minors.

There are at least two former Yankees on the record as saying Tebow could be a successful major league player. Former New York slugger Gary Sheffield, never afraid to take a controversial stance, tweeted that Tebow is “a natural” and “I absolutely believe in his ability to play in the bigs” after spending some time watching Tebow hit in a batting cage. 

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Another former Yankees player, journeyman catcher Chad Moeller, who played 50 games for New York between 2008 and 2010, has been working with Tim Tebow since May to prepare him for his showcase.

Moeller now runs a baseball academy in Scottsdale, and interestingly cites former Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long as the main inspiration behind his approach. He even sent a video of Tebow to Long for him to assess.

The veteran backstop maintains that this is not a publicity stunt, and that he sincerely believes Tebow has what it takes to be successful in the big leagues. He recently told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News:

His swing is very simple. Not a whole lot of head or body movement…It’s short and explosive…He’s obviously a physical player. He’s going to be a power hitter. The thing I think gives him the best chance to succeed is that he can drive the ball the other way very well and hits it very hard. He has good discipline at the plate.

Apparently Tebow’s team envisions him signing in September, working in the instructional league, playing in the Arizona Fall League, and then being ready to begin 2017 in Double-A. That seems incredibly ambitious for a guy who has not played an inning of professional baseball since high school.

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The fact that Tebow is just hitting fastballs in batting cages is all well and good, but he will be in for a rude awakening the first time he faces a pitcher with a decent curveball or change in High-A.

The man can obviously do whatever he wants, but I see no need for the Yankees to take on all the headaches signing Tim Tebow would mean when there is almost no possibility of any payoff.